Formation of
the Minnesota
Neurological Society, 1909
Formation of the
Minnesota Neurological Society by physicians who had a strong interest in
Neurology was an important advancement for the specialty of Neurology. Members
of the new society will be recognized as the pioneers of Neurology at the University
of Minnesota, in the Twin
Cities and at the Mayo Clinic. The new society symbolically set Neurology apart
from psychiatry as an independent specialty (the name of the Medical
School department (first
formed in 1888) was Mental and Nervous Diseases), although it remained common
for physicians to practice psychiatry and neurology for another 40 years. The
first president, Dr. C. Eugene Riggs, was also the first Head of the department
of Mental and Nervous diseases at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Dr.
Riggs’ interest in Neurology is reflected in his attendance at the American
Neurological Association meeting in Philadelphia
in 1898 (click here). The original book of minutes of the Minnesota Neurological
Society from 1909 to 1940 is kept at the Museum of the Minnesota Historical
Society in St. Paul. The minutes of the inaugural and the following four
meetings contains the names of almost all practicing neurologists in the state (click
here).
